It’s blueberry-picking season here in Indiana. Our family took a trip to the patch and picked 5 lbs. Most went into the freezer, but I also made blueberry syrup for pancakes, and I tried a new recipe for blueberry streusel coffee cake. I found it in the “Cake mix Doctor” book by Anne Byrn. The cake part was fabulous, rich dense moist, but all the blueberries sunk to the bottom, and the topping and nuts didn’t go together well. When I was asked to bring a birthday cake for my grandmothers party, I decided to alter it a bit into a layer cake, with blueberry syrup, and cream cheese frosting made from scratch.

I rolled the blueberries in flour to help them float, and only added them to one pan so I would be assured a solid bottom to my cake. The berries were actually visible from the top, so I placed the blueberry layer on the bottom, added a layer of frosting, and placed the plain layer on top, then covered the cake with the cream cheese frosting. i thought about putting the syrup in between the layers, or drizzling the top of the cake, but the kids voted for it on the side. I put a small pool on each plate and let my guests choose whether to add a little or a lot of the syrup to their plate. The whole cake was pretty to look at and decadent to taste.

preheat oven to 350, and set out cream cheese to soften. Spray 2 –9” pans with nonstick spray. Blend cake mix cream cheese, oil, sugar milk and eggs. For 2 minutes. Batter will be thick. Pour evenly into pans. Roll blueberries in small amount of flour. Sprinkle blueberries on top of one of the pans.

Bake cake until golden, about 35 minutes, and allow to cool before frosting.

set out cream cheese and butter to soften. Blend cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time until desired stiffness is reached. This frosting can be very soft at room temperature. Store in refrigerator to firm up and hold shape, and set out for 1 hour before serving.

Blueberry Sauce

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries1 ½ cup water1 cup sugar

Rinse blueberries if fresh, and place in a pan with ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil and crush berries with a back of a wooden spoon. Simmer stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Press mixture through a strainer, retaining the sauce and discard the solids.

Rinse pan, and return to stove top with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil stirring frequently, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add blueberry sauce and simmer additional 2 minutes to desired thickness. Allow to cool, and refrigerate or serve at room temperature.

it tastes like summer, the syrup is so good on pancakes and waffles even in the winter.

i didn't start making frosting from scratch until a couple years ago, but with a good mixer it's not tough, and it tastes so much better. you can replace the cream cheese with another stick of butter for buttercream frosting. if you want to get fancier with your decorations, replacing the cream cheese with crisco will hold it's shape and get a thin crust, but i think it doesn't taste as good.